New to pool ownership.... Located outside Tampa, FL, we have a 20' x 40' in-ground plaster pool, 9 feet at deepest. If I calculated correctly, a 36,000+ gallon pool- it's big! 2 skimmers a DE filter, not sure about existing pump other than it is Hayward, 1.65 HP. It was working well when we bought home 3 months ago. I had to clean the filter 2 months ago after an algae bloom, plus the pool had not been in-use, so there was excess marcite after lots of use (labor day pool party, etc). Now pool pump motor is "locked up" and we want to forgo any repairs and replace with new and efficient. My husband liked the idea of an Ecopump (yes, we know their data on energy savings is likely very biased), but the 3 year warranty also sounded appealing. Any ideas on other alternatives for our size pool?
Need new, energy-efficient pool pump
- Thread starter Bluecoast17
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!!The cheapest / easiest solution would be to replace the motor on your existing pump with a new 2-speed motor ... assuming the motor is the only thing that has a problem.
If you have no high water flow needs (waterfalls, spa, solar), then you can get by with a pretty small pump. You need to realize that the HP is only part of the story. All manufacturers have multiple lines of pumps that move different amounts of water even with the same HP motor.
How expensive is your power? A full VS pump may not make sense unless your electricity is expensive. Also, the VS pumps are much more prone to damage from lightning and require a surge protector to lower the risk.
Thank you for the warm welcome! There was also a crack on the housing of the pump that was leaking water. And our energy costs are rather high in this area, 12.51 cents per KWH (that's averaging in energy & fuel costs). I'd love to know about what percentage is going towards pool maintenance... Our power bill this month at least went down for our recent cooler weather since we could turn on off one of our AC units. We are planning to update some electrical (house is over 30 years old), so we could easily add the surge protector for a VS pump. Also hoping for a quieter pump.... We only have a pool guy doing chem service (planning to figure out doing our own chemicals too, once we're more settled), and he had advised replacing the pump. His estimate with labor was $760 (not sure what type of pump), but we were hoping to do it ourselves instead. We don't mind more upfront costs if it saves money in the long run. We have no other high water flow needs, but the pool will get heavy use in our warm months.
That power is not really that high ... so may take many many years for a VS pump to save more than a 2-speed pump. Even longer if you add a surge protector for the VS pump.
For that cost, I can pretty much guarantee it was for a basic single speed pump. I would suggest a 1-1.5HP 2-speed pump. Which you run on low most all the time and manually switch to high speed for vacuuming and filter cleaning (if applicable).
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For that cost, I can pretty much guarantee it was for a basic single speed pump. I would suggest a 1-1.5HP 2-speed pump. Which you run on low most all the time and manually switch to high speed for vacuuming and filter cleaning (if applicable).
Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.
By far, the best energy/money savings you can do with a pump is to manage your run time. It's a trial and error learning curve but most pool owners simply run their pumps too much.
Mine is about 4 hours every other day in the winter and about 6-8 hours daily during swim season.
Mine is about 4 hours every other day in the winter and about 6-8 hours daily during swim season.